Closing summary
Debt ceiling negotiations seem to be on track, at least if you ask Republican House speaker Kevin McCarthy. Some Democrats aren’t so sure. In the Senate, 11 lawmakers say Joe Biden should consider invoking the constitution’s 14th amendment to prevent a default, rather than agreeing to GOP-devised spending cuts. And in the House, just about every Democrat has signed on to a discharge petition that would force a vote on raising the ceiling without preconditions. But it needs the defections of at least a few Republicans to succeed, and thus far, that support has not emerged.
Here’s what else happened today:
Ron DeSantis is finally getting it over with: the Florida governor will announce his presidential bid next week, according to multiple reports.
Progressive Democrats remain displeased with the prospect of implementing new work requirements for government aid programs as part of a debt limit deal.
CNN’s Christiane Amanpour was not happy with how her network handled the town hall with Donald Trump last week.
California Democratic senator Dianne Feinstein’s health may be worse than publicly known, the New York Times reports.
The House Freedom Caucus says no negotiations with Democrats until the Senate passes the GOP’s bill to raise the debt ceiling while cutting spending and implementing a number of conservative policies – a nonstarter for Democrats.
Disney axes $1bn Florida development amid spat with DeSantis
As Florida governor Ron DeSantis prepares to announce a presidential campaign where he will sell voters on his controversial governance of the southern state, Disney today announced they were cancelling a billion-dollar office project in Orlando amid a fight with his administration.
According to the New York Times, a top Disney executive cited “changing business conditions” for axing the project, which would have seen about 1,000 employees relocated from Southern California. The company has been feuding with DeSantis since last year, when it spoke out against his so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law, and last month sued his administration over actions they said illegally targeted their business in the state.
That matter is ongoing, but as the Times reports, Disney executives have made clear that they are willing to reconsider their longstanding relationship with the state over DeSantis’s policies. Here’s more from the Times:
In March, Disney called Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida “anti-business” for his scorched-earth attempt to tighten oversight of the company’s theme park resort near Orlando. Last month, when Disney sued the governor and his allies for what it called “a targeted campaign of government retaliation,” the company made clear that $17 billion in planned investment in Walt Disney World was on the line.
“Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people, and pay more taxes, or not?” Robert A. Iger, Disney’s chief executive, said on an earnings-related conference call with analysts last week.
On Thursday, Mr. Iger and Josh D’Amaro, Disney’s theme park and consumer products chairman, showed that they were not bluffing, pulling the plug on a nearly $1 billion office complex that was scheduled for construction in Orlando. It would have brought more than 2,000 jobs to the region, with $120,000 as the average salary, according to an estimate from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.
The project, known as the Lake Nona Town Center, was supposed to involve the relocation of more than 1,000 employees from Southern California, including most of a department known as Imagineering, which works with Disney’s movie studios to develop theme park attractions. Most of the affected employees complained bitterly about having to move — some quit — but Disney largely held firm, partly because of a Florida tax credit that would have allowed the company to recoup as much as $570 million over 20 years for building and occupying the complex.
